Category Archives: Spinal Cord Injury Treatment

Contact Information Available for logged-in reporters only Neptune, NJ June 11, 2014 Matthew Kaufman, M.D., FACS, Center for Treatment of Paralysis and Reconstructive Nerve Surgery at Jersey Shore University Medical Center, recently attended and presented at the American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) National Annual Meeting at The Marriott Rivercenter in San Antonio, Texas. Additionally, Dr. Kaufman hosted a dinner lecture on Thursday, May 15 on Surgical Management of the Paralyzed Diagphram: A Peripheral Nerve Approach. In attendance were 36 prominent spinal cord injury and physical medicine and rehabilitation physicians from around the world including medical directors from Kessler Rehabilitation Institute, Shriners Hospital for Children, Burke Rehabilitation, University of Alabama School of Medicine, TIRR Memorial Herman and The University of Miami Miller School of Medicine Dr. Kaufman concluded his visit to San Antonio by participating at the ASIA Annual Meeting. On Saturday, May 17 he delivered a presentation entitled, Successful Reversal of Ventilator Dependency in Cervical Spinal Cord Injury and Stroke with Combined Upper Motor Neuron and Phrenic Nerve Lesions using Simultaneous Nerve Transfers and Diaphragmatic Pacemakers to an audience of physicians, psychologists, researchers, nurses, therapists, counselors, case managers, administrators. The annual meeting of the American Spinal Injury Association provides approx … Continue reading →

An Olympic swimmer is fighting to regain use of her legs. Amy Van Dyken-Rouen, now 41, suffered a devastating spinal injury that was once considered irreversible. Van Dyken-Rouen posted photos on Instagram from her hospital bed Tuesday. One caption reads: "Doing great today. My room is the most decorated in ICU. Thx for ur thoughts & prayers!" From her hospital bed, Amy Van Dyken-Rouen posted photos on Instagram. CBS News Van Dyken-Rouen was riding in an all-terrain vehicle last Friday when she flipped down an embankment. The six-time Olympic gold medalist was airlifted to a hospital in Scottsdale, Arizona, where she underwent emergency surgery. Over the weekend a family member posted a statement saying, "Amy's spinal cord was completely severed at the T11 vertebra, but, miraculously, a broken vertebra stopped within millimeters of rupturing her aorta." The T11 vertebra is in the middle of the back. Doctors say a complete severing of the spine is rare. Doctors thought Dustin Shillcox's spine was completely severed after a car accident four years ago. Continue reading here: New treatment may offer hope for injured Olympian … Continue reading →

Unfortunately, there's no way to reverse damage to the spinal cord. But, researchers are continually working on new treatments, including prostheses and medications that may promote nerve cell regeneration or improve the function of the nerves that remain after a spinal cord injury. In the meantime, spinal cord injury treatment focuses on preventing further injury and empowering people with a spinal cord injury to return to an active and productive life. Urgent medical attention is critical to minimize the effects of any head or neck trauma. So treatment for a spinal cord injury often begins at the scene of the accident. Emergency personnel typically immobilize the spine as gently and quickly as possible using a rigid neck collar and a rigid carrying board, which they'll use to transport you to the hospital. In the emergency room, doctors focus on: You may be sedated so that you don't move and sustain more damage while undergoing diagnostic tests for spinal cord injury. If you do have a spinal cord injury, you'll usually be admitted to the intensive care unit for treatment. You may even be transferred to a regional spine injury center that has a team of neurosurgeons, orthopedic surgeons, spinal cord … Continue reading →

Dr. Lumy Sawaki cried as she watched one of her patients, who has no motor or sensory function, take a first step. But it wasn't a normal step. The patient was wearing a helmet and a full-body, robotic exoskeleton reminiscent of something in a Marvel superhero movie. Sawaki recalled knowing the paralyzed patient couldn't feel the foot hit the ground, but the patient's eyes lit up and Sawaki considered that step, after months of rehabilitation, a major accomplishment. Sawaki, an associate professor in the University of Kentucky department of physical medicine and rehabilitation, is also clinical director of the Walk Again Project. "I am called the crying doctor," Sawaki said, laughing. "It's just so emotional." The project's doctors, engineers and scientists from around the world, have worked for 18 months to demonstrate new brain-computer interface technology that will be used at the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil. The project receives funding and support from the Brazilian Innovation Agency and the Edmond and Lily Safra International Institute of Neuroscience of Natal. On June 12, a paralyzed spinal cord injury patient will kick the first ball of the World Cup in Sao Paulo using an exoskeleton and brain-computer technology. This will be … Continue reading →

Chicago, IL (PRWEB) May 27, 2014 VisitandCare.com helped to create a piece of history on May 4th, as the team geared up for the Wings For Life World Run 2014. The pioneering event embraced tens of thousands of runners for a simultaneous race in 32 different countries to benefit spinal cord research. The goal to make the world run as one with over 35,000 individuals of all ages and abilities making a profound commitment to run for those who can't. Wings for Life is a not-for-profit spinal cord research foundation. The foundation funds world-class scientific research and clinical trials aimed at healing devastating spinal cord injuries. The driving force behind the foundation are two-time Motocross World Champion, Heinz Kinigadner, and the Founder of Red Bull, Dietrich Mateschitz. In 2003, Kinigadner's son Hannes was involved in a tragic accident that left him tetraplegic. Stirred by the appalling injury, Kinigadner and Mateschitz turned to leading scientists from across the globe to further tackle earlier discoveries revealing injured spinal cord nerve cells are capable of regeneration after specific types of treatment. Quickly recognizing that research into spinal cord injuries was underfunded, Kinigadner and Mateschitz organized the Wings for Life research foundation, which ultimately … Continue reading →

People with severe injuries to their spinal cord currently have little prospect of recovery, and remain confined to their wheelchairs. Now, all that could change with a new treatment that stimulates the spinal cord using electric impulses. The hope is that the technique will help paraplegic patients learn to walk again. From June 3 -- 5, Fraunhofer researchers will be at the Sensor + Test measurement fair in Nrnberg to showcase the implantable microelectrode sensors they have developed in the course of pre-clinical development work. Thomas T. was just 25 years old when a severe motorcycle accident changed his life in an instant. Doctors diagnosed him with paraplegia following an injury to his spinal cord in the lumbar region. The young man has been confined to a wheelchair ever since. The diagnosis of paraplegia came as a shock, and it was only in the course of a month-long period of rehabilitation that Thomas T. was able to come to terms with his condition. Patients like him currently have no prospect of recovery, as there is still no effective course of treatment available for improving motor function among the severely disabled. Now a consortium of European research institutions and companies want … Continue reading →

Content by UTS UTS researchers are experimenting with spinal cord tissue. It all started at a symposium five years ago. Catherine Gorrie, an expert in spinal cord injury, was listening to a presentation about the differences between the developing brains of children and the mature ones of adults when she had an aah-haa moment. I began to wonder if there is something in the spines of children that could be manipulated for repair, says Dr Gorrie, a neuroscientist at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS). It made sense. Dr Gorrie already knew that the more adaptable, or plastic, spinal cords of infants responded more efficiently to injury than did those of adults. If she could tease out the factors that encouraged generic cells, so-called stem cells, in the spines of newborns to become new nerve cells, neurones, Dr Gorrie reasoned that it should be possible to mimic the process and help repair spinal cord injuries in people of all ages. That would be incredibly important because, to date, there is no cure for spinal cord injury and no proven drug treatment. The most effective treatments available involve the surgical stabilisation of the spinal column and extensive physical therapy to provide … Continue reading →

Orlando, FL (PRWEB) May 13, 2014 Neil Riordan, PhD will Present Umbilical Cord Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSC) in the Treatment of Autoimmune Diseases at the 22nd Annual World Congress on Anti-Aging, Regenerative and Aesthetic Medicine at the Gaylord Palms Hotel in Orlando, Florida as part of the Specialty Workshop: Stem Cells in Anti-Aging Medicine: An Update. The primary focus of this workshop is to teach medical professionals how to successfully incorporate stem cell treatments into their practices. Expert faculty will cover stem cell theory and clinical trial research for all aspects of regenerative medicine as well as stem cell treatment marketing. Dr. Riordan will discuss: Allogeneic mesenchymal stem cells mechanisms of immune modulating activities; the importance of MSC placement for clinical effect; human clinical trials demonstrating efficacy; alternative routes of MSC delivery; dose and frequency; and clinical safety of MSC. The conference will be held from May 15 17, 2014 at the Gaylord Palms Hotel in Orlando, Florida. For more information, please visit http://www.a4m.com/anti-aging-conference-orlando-2014-may.html. About Neil Riordan PhD Dr. Riordan is the founder and chairman of Medistem Panama, Inc., (MPI) a leading stem cell laboratory and research facility located in the Technology Park at the prestigious City of Knowledge in … Continue reading →

A major breakthrough was reported in neuroscience research this week. Four paraplegic patients who participated in a study were able to voluntarily move their legs again after repeated epidural electrical stimulation of their spinal cords. The study was funded mainly by the Christopher and Dana Reeves Foundation, and the results were published today in the medical journal Brain. The pioneering treatment simulates the signals that damaged nerves would expect to hear from the brain. The study is the continuation of a previous one conducted in 2011 which resulted in a patient Rob Summers being able to stand again. The three new patients in this most recent study had all suffered a complete spinal cord injury and were paralyzed for years. Yet they were able to move their legs immediately following the implantation and activation of the stimulator. In fact the recovery time was so brief that it has led researchers to speculate that some nerve pathways may remain intact even after injury. Dr. Reggie Edgerton is a distinguished Neurosurgeon and Professor of Integrative Biology and Physiology at UCLA and was responsible for running this project.He remarked This is a wake-up call for how we see motor complete spinal cord injury, … Continue reading →

Spinal cord injury survivor Dustin Shillcox moves his toes with new SCI treatment. For people with spinal cord injuries, something as small as the wiggle of a toe can seem a miracle. So imagine the excitement when a research project involving the application of electrical stimulation to broken spinal cords unexpectedly enabled a spinal cord injury survivor to voluntarily wiggle his toes. Imagine what this may bode one day for hundreds of people paralyzed in car accidents and other serious traumas who may one day regain movement. Neuroscientist Susan Harkema of the University of Louisville said her research project was meant to learn more about nerve pathways, not to actually make patients move. Over the past five years, her team has applied e-stim to four paralyzed men, and they all development substantial movement, including wiggling their toes, lifting and swinging their legs, moving their ankles and sitting up without support. Two patients can even do sit ups. Take a look at this video from CNN, which shows Dustin Shillcox, a paralyzed man, move his leg with Harkemas treatment: You can read about this groundbreaking study, which is being funded in part by the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation in Brain: … Continue reading →